Growing Up
by Animedrawngirl
Summary: Vlad visits his old friends from college and finds that their family is in need of a little help. Masters quickly becomes a figure to look up to for the young Danny as he grows up and experiences all of his firsts in life. Vlad quickly finds that he could not live without having this sweet innocent boy to look after. (Prelude to Our Time)
1. Chapter 1

GROWING UP Chapter 1

Danny always realized that his family was different. He was constantly teased at school for having parents that believed in ghosts. His sister was the talk of the town with how smart she was and how much potential she had. While he could over look the Christmas chaos, the thanksgiving terrors, and the everyday excursions, he couldn't shake the awful feeling of being ignored and pushed to the side. His parents were amazing people who just had too much on their hands. Their funding came from small corporations that believed that ghosts where the next big thing, and they were constantly under the pressure of building new inventions to find and contain the spectral beings. His sister on the other hand, was always independent. She could easily take care of herself and went above and beyond what Danny could do. The small boy couldn't even make food for himself. He'd often go a long time without food because his sister often forgot to take care of him, and his parents where in their lab all the time. Thankfully, Danny did not have to suffer through this life style for long.

A knocking came from the large wooden door. An unfamiliar voice announced himself as Vlad from college. Jazz was away with friends and Danny's parents where holed up in their lab. After a while of staring at the door, debating if it was safe to open, the young boy walked towards it. Before opening it and letting the odd voice come in, he asked a quick question. "Are you able to cook?"

The voice took a long time to answer, but eventually it said, "Yes, I guess I can cook a bit." Satisfied with the answer, Danny unlocked the door and opened it to meet a very tall, very lean, grey haired man.

"Why, hello there." The man smiled warmly down at the child. "Who might you be?"

"I'm Danny. I'm four years old and I'm Maddie and Jack's son. Their second child." Danny said in a matter of fact way. He's had to introduce himself to many strange men who came and went constantly. Usually, they'd leave it at that, ruffle his hair slightly, and go to the lab to talk to his parents. This man however, did not do that.

"Second child? Where's the oldest then?" The tall man walked inside the house and closed the heavy door behind him. He looked around the room and couldn't help but notice how disastrous it looked. Everything was askew. It had been at least a few months since anything was cleaned, and oddest yet, was the lack of life that was in it. It was not well used, there were no toys, no magazines or books, no signs that anyone actually used that room.

"Jazz is out playing with her friends." Danny's stomach growled loudly. He put his chubby little hand on his abdomen and looked back at the man. "Will you make me food?"

"I wouldn't want to intrude on your parent's job. I'm sure they'd like to eat dinner with you soon anyway."

"No, they haven't come out of the lab for a few days." Danny continued to look up at the man. "If you won't cook for me, at least get the cereal down please. I'm not tall enough to reach it, even when standing on a chair."

The grey haired man stared down at the little boy as a frown crossed his face. Upon closer examination, the boy was very reserved, horribly skinny, and didn't look all that healthy. He let out slight sigh and walked back into the kitchen. The man searched the fridge and the cupboards for something edible. He found a box of mac-n-cheese. After a few minutes to talking and getting to know the small boy who watched everything he did from the safety of the dining table, the food was finally ready. Masters filled a bowl with the yellow food and placed the piping hot product in front of the boy. He grabbed a glass and filled it with milk for the boy and put it on the table as well.

"Thank you sir." Danny said before digging in. It'd been a long time since his last meal, so he was quick to devour it and said nothing while eating. Only when he was on his second bowl did he pick up his conversation with the large stranger. "Why are you here sir?"

"You can call me Vlad if you want. I'll call you Daniel if you don't mind." Vlad smiled at the boy. "I actually came here for a few days to see how your parents were doing. They don't call or write often. I was their best friend in college and I watched them get married and bought this house years ago."

"If you're here for them, why are you talking to me?"

"They seem to be a bit busy. Besides, I might as well meet the rest of the family that they started." Vlad grabbed a paper towel from by the sink and dampened it. He cleaned the cheese sticking to the boy's face and washed the dishes and table after the mess the boy left behind. "You're a very interesting young man, Daniel."

Just then, Maddie rushed into the kitchen suddenly and was halfway out of the room before she stopped and looked at the odd man in her kitchen.

"Ah Madeline, it's been so long since I've seen you." The tall man took a step towards the woman and reached for her hand to bestow upon it a friendly kiss. Instead, he was flung out of the room and found himself on his back in the dusty front room.

"Who are you and why are you in here?"

"Mama, he's Vlad from college. He was one of your best friends." Danny said from his seat at the table.

"Danny, why are you home? Aren't you supposed to be at school?"

"I've been on summer break for two weeks now mama." Danny replied. He hopped down to the floor and walked over to Vlad. The man had picked himself up by that time and the little boy was simply dusting some of the dust bunnies off of the man's nice slacks.

The woman took a long look at the muscular man standing in her living room before it finally dawned on her that it was indeed one of her best friends from college. "Oh dear, I'm sorry. I've been working nonstop for a few days and didn't recognize you at first. My how you've changed."

"You've seemed to remain the same, even after a marriage, two kids, and seven years."

"Maddie! Where's that ecto filtrator?" Jack yelled from down in the lab. Maddie quickly looked around and grabbed the first filter she could see before sprinting down to the lab. Vlad followed briskly after her, leaving Danny all alone yet again.

Vlad didn't resurface from the lab until eight at night, when Danny was tucking himself into bed. Jazz had called and said she'd be staying at a friend's house that night, even though both kids knew that their parents weren't going to notice her absence.

The tall man who was no longer much of a stranger entered the boy's room. "Would you like someone to read to you before bed?" He asked, exhausted from the work he'd just done for Maddie and Jack. He sat down on the edge of the boy's bed and looked around for a book to read.

"Why would someone read a book before bed?" Danny asked quizzically. Never before had someone read to him at bed time. The notion just seemed ridiculous.

"Well, maybe a quick story of some sort to send you off to dream land tonight?" Vlad offered. He quickly saw that the only books in the boy's room were ghost hunting documentaries and school workbooks.

"I guess." Danny said once he realized that the man on his bed wanted to talk to him a bit before they both went to bed after an odd day.

"Do you have something you want to hear about?"

"Maybe something from your college days." Danny suggested. He decided back when he was waiting on the food to cook that he wanted to know more about the man who wanted to actually talk to him.

Masters mulled over the idea for a bit before coming up with the best memory to talk about. "I know one you will absolutely love!" He exclaimed. Before starting his fascinating tale, he made sure the boy was tucked in well and was plenty warm with lots of blankets. He turned off the lights and started his moonlight tale of the lab accident.

"Back when your parents and I were in college, we working in a club that was meant to find ghosts. We had worked on a ghost portal that we were sure would work. I was examining it when your dad decided to test it out. For a few seconds, it looked like it had actually worked, but then the room got dark on the portal backfired. Before I could even react, a ghost had shown up out of nowhere and pushed me down to the floor. Jack had fallen over and protected Maddie from the malfunction. A bright light filled the room and a shot of energy came from the machine and nearly avoided the four of us. Before I could thank the ghost who'd saved me, he had flown out of the window and vanished forever."

Danny stared bright eyed at the older man who had just told his story. "Wow. What did the ghost look like? Was he scary and green?"

"No, actually he looked a lot like a human. He had bright green eyes, a black and white suit on, and messy white hair. He was skinny, but strong." Vlad gave out a yawn and stretched as he continued talking. "I don't know where he came from, who he was, or where he went. All I know, is that I owe my life to that boy." Vlad went on to talk about how the lab accident had shown that Maddie and Jack where ment for each other and how the two dated all through out college.

By the end of the story, the two boys were curled up on the bed sleeping soundly. Vlad had fallen asleep after a day of travel, surprises, and a long talk with two old friends and new one.


	2. Chapter 2

GROWING UP Chapter 2

"Mr. Vlad, sir. Wake up Mr. Vlad, sir." The man slowly woke up as he felt someone pushing on his arm and wiggling around. The grey haired man found himself curled up on a small child's bed holding on to the small boy from yesterday. He quickly snatched his hand away and sat up. "Good morning sir." Danny said as he wiggled out of his bed. His small potato feet slid across the wooden floor as he made his was to his dresser. He searched the dresser only to find that he didn't have any clean clothes to wear.

"Daniel, how did you sleep?" Vlad asked as he regained his composure and tried to remember all of what he did the other day. He straightened his shirt and looked himself over in the crayon framed mirror on the wall. His breath smelled horrible, his hair was disheveled, and his clothes were wrinkled.

"I slept well." Danny answered. He shuffled through the clothes in his room looking for something that could be worn again.

"What's wrong boy?" Vlad watched as the boy picked through a pile of clothes in the corner of the room, only to eventually find a small white hamper.

"Nothing to wear." Danny frowned. He just shoved everything back in the basket and decided to wear his PJs for the day. It was summer after all, so he didn't have to change.

"Well, that won't do." Masters said. He piled all the loose clothes up in the hamper and took it out into the hall. "Do you know where the laundry room is, Daniel?" The small boy led the man down the hall and into a small room where the two machines that were used to wash clothes were hidden. The man loaded some of the clothes into the washer and started it.

"Well, what should we do while we wait for your clothes to wash? I know, would you mind joining me today? I'd like to take you out for a while." Vlad crouched down and smiled at the young boy. "We can buy you a quick pair of clothes and have some fun."

"That sounds nice. Would mama be okay with it?" Danny tilted his head to the side and looked at the dark blue eyes that stared at him.

"I'm sure she won't mind. I'll leave a note on the table along with my cell phone number. Use the restroom and wash up while I do that."

The two boys were out the door within ten minutes. A note was stuck to the door of the lab with details of where the two would be and a number where they could be contacted at.

Masters walked over to the dark purple car he had rented for his stay in Amity. He placed Danny in the front seat and sat in his respective seat. He buckled the boy in and did his own seat belt before they were off to start the day.

"Mr. Vlad, why am I not in a car seat?" Danny asked. While his parents almost never drove around with him in the car, he knew that kids were supposed to be in a booster seat in the back of the car. "Isn't that breaking a rule?"

"Well, kind of. However, I don't have a car seat and I doubt I could get one from your parents with how busy they are. So for today, you get to sit up in the front like a big boy. Just don't tell your parents, okay?"

"Isn't that lying?" The small boy was fiddling with the seat belt. It felt so strange gently pressed on his legs.

"Not really. Who says parents have to know everything?" Vlad chuckled as he sped through a yellow light. "You didn't hear that from me though." He said sternly.

Danny simply sat in his big boy seat and stared up at the man who had taken him away from his usual boring life. He wasn't sure if he should be spending so much time with this odd ball, but if his mom was okay with him, he didn't see much harm in it. Besides, getting a little bit of attention was nice.

The two boys had stopped at a small dollar store to buy Danny a shirt and shorts after having gone back to Vlad's hotel room for him to change and get his wallet. The two ran around town doing whatever they thought was fun. They'd gone bowling, walked around the down town area and gotten ice cream, and even played at the park for a while. The day wore on as the sun slowly started it's decent.

"Daniel, we've got one more thing to do before we go home." Vlad plucked the boy out of the swing and held him at arms length. "We need to buy your mom something nice for her birthday tomorrow."

"Mama's birthday is tomorrow?" Danny gawked. "I haven't made her anything." He wined as he made a slight pouty face.

"That's okay, we'll get her something really nice, from the both of us. You can even draw something on the card for her." The little boy's face lit up with joy and excitement at the mention of getting his mother something nice. Drawing on the card was just a huge bonus for him.

"Okay!"

"I need your help with this since it's really important. Do you think you can help me pick out something your mom really wants?" Danny furiously nodded his head and smiled.

The two men made their way to the mall and went through lots of stores. Many of which, Danny hated due to the horrible smells. He was able to pick some things out for his mom though; some pretty blue flowers, a nice smelling perfume, and a lovely teal nail polish.

Vlad had grabbed a few things he thought would fit the other gifts as well. After they had gone to a few shops and were loaded down with a few bags worth of fancy gifts, they retreated to a near by restaurant. Masters had decided to treat Danny to a large meal of spaghetti and garlic bread. They ate their meal in peace as they continued to get to know each other.

"Are you married Mr. Vlad?" Danny asked as he tried to poke at a rather large meat ball on his plate.

"No, I never really fancied a girl enough to get married." Vlad leaned across the table and cleaned the boy's face for the hundredth time that meal. "What are you learning in school?"

"We just finished learning the alpha-um- abc's. We're learning how to count to a hundred! It's a whole lot of numbers though, so it's hard."

"Really! Wow you sound like you're really working hard. Mind showing me what you can do?"

"Sure!" Danny quickly recited the first twenty numbers he knew and then dropped off since he wasn't sure of what came next." Vlad applauded the boy's valiant effort. The rest of the meal consisted of messy food, constant cleaning, and practicing Danny's counting. By the time the two boys had gotten home, the little boy was already up to fifty.

It was already seven at night by the time the two men arrived home. The large wood door to the house creaked open as Vlad slowly let himself in. He entered the dark house with the small boy, who was already trying to fall asleep on him.

"Hey Danny, your clothes were in my way so I just finished them for you since I had my own to do. Next time finish your clothes before you go out." A small girl walked down the stairs, but halted mid-step when her eyes fell upon the tall, strong man with short grey hair. "Danny! You know you aren't supposed to talk to strangers." The small girl stormed down the stairs and grabbed her little brother away from the strange man.

"Ah, you must be Jasmine." Vlad smiled at her. He held out his hand to offer a friendly hand shake, but got rejected. While the girl was small in stature, she was very demanding and protective. "I'm your parent's friend from college. I arrived yesterday while you were out." Vlad tried again. The girl wasn't buying a word he said.

"Get out of the house before I call my daddy up here and make him throw you out of here. We don't let strangers in here, even if you say you know my parents." Jazz was the picture of intelligence for her age. She absorbed everything she was taught and had become over protective of her little brother, who she thought was way to giving. He rarely questioned people or their motives.

"Jazz, this man does know mommy and daddy though. He helped them last night in the lab doing all kinds of ghost hunting stuff. He's really nice too. He bought me clothes today!" Danny modeled his new outfit for his sister. "See!"

Vlad simply snorted as the little kindergarten boy tried to spin around and ended up on the floor. "I must thank you for taking care of the clothes for us though. I meant to get the two of us back here earlier, but time just escapes me some days."

After the little girl glared at the two smiling faces trying to win her favor, she finally gave up and let the man into the house with a warning. "Try anything funny and I'll scream."

"You have my word as a gentleman that I will not try anything funny." He grabbed Danny's hand and started to walk up the stairs with the boy in tow. "Are the clothes in the laundry room, or did you put them away?"

"I put them away." Jazz answered, following the two cautiously. Vlad went through the boy's drawers and picked out some PJs for the boy to wear that night. He lead the tired boy to the bathroom and placed the clothes on the counter as he ran the water.

"Do you want any help washing up, Daniel?" Vlad asked as Danny wiggled out of his shirt, now stained with tomato sauce. The boy nodded as his eyelids began to droop closed. "Jazz, if you don't mind, could you give us some privacy? I'll leave the door open so there's no worries of me doing anything bad, okay?"

The little girl puffed out her cheeks, but complied. She left the room, but made sure she could hear them from down the hall. The door stayed wide open.

Vlad rolled up his medium length grey sleeves and found the kid's soap. He lathered the boy's hair and washed it carefully, making sure not to get any suds in his face. He went over the tiny kid's chest, back, and arms with body soap and rinsed him off. By the end of the soak, Danny was practically asleep and Vlad was just making sure the boy didn't drown in the tub. He bundled the boy up in a soft towel and dried him off as the dirt from the day was washed down the drain.

"Thanks Vlad." Danny said tiredly as he was placed, fully dressed, into his bed and tucked in. The boy burrowed down into the sheets even more until his head barely peaked out from under the soft fortress.

Vlad let out a laugh at how much the child resembled a badger. Yes, he was a badger. Masters ruffled the boy's hair. "Do you want to hear a story before bed, or are you okay?"

"Was the ghost boy real?" Danny asked curiously as he tried so hard to keep from falling asleep. The older man sat down on the edge of the bed and started to tell Danny about the story from yesterday. Jazz, had by the time, found a place to sit next to the door and leaned in to listen to the story.

"The ghost boy is as real as I am. He was a blessing, an angel from above. He must have saved my life when that portal backfired. I'm sure I would have been horribly hurt or worse had he not flown in at that moment. I owe my whole life from that point forward to him." He stopped talking when he realized the small boy had fallen victim to sleep. The man smiled down at the boy and left the room, keeping the door cracked open so the light from the hallway could shine in just a bit.

The tall man made his way down the stairs to the main room. Jazz was hot on his heels. "What lab accident? What happened? Is the ghost boy _really_ real?" She asked, forgetting all caution she had towards the man. Masters started to pick up the room and clean it as he told the interested little girl about his time in college. By the time the room was dusted, the floor swept, and everything was in it's place, the girl was fast asleep on the couch dreaming of what this strange phantom must have been like. Vlad placed a blanket over the girl and slid a pillow under her head. It was already nine and the man still felt the need to clean up the kitchen and the upstairs hallway.

As the older man walked into the dining room, he saw a familiar yellow note staring at him. The one he'd written earlier clung to the lab door, untouched since it was posted. It was obvious Maddie and Jack hadn't left the lab all day. Vlad quickly cleaned the kitchen and hallways so they were livable, making sure not to wake the kids.

Vlad cooked up a quick dinner for Maddie and Jack. He grabbed the plates full of food and made his way down to the lab, knowing the two hadn't been taking good care of themselves lately. He found them passed out in a corner of the lab where they were reworking their calculations. Masters slumped his shoulders and rolled his eyes. Did no one use a bed in this house unless prompted to? He simply covered the food with plastic wrap with a note; "Eat this when you wake up and have a good day. Also, Happy Birthday Maddie. –Vlad M."

He found a blanket upstairs and placed it on the two. He didn't want to risk waking them since they needed their sleep and would certainly had continued working if woken. He made his way back to his hotel late at night and wrapped all the gifts he and Danny had bought that day. It was one in the morning before he could finally call it a day and go to bed after a hot shower.


	3. Chapter 3

GROWING UP Chapter 3

Vlad found himself waking up to a bright world and a sun that refused to stop shining in his face, no matter how tightly he pulled the curtains closed. He finally groggily looked at the clock, only to find that it was already nine in the morning.

He rushed to change into appropriate party attire and grab the presents and his daily necessities like his phone and wallet, before rushing out the door. He grabbed a muffin from the complementary breakfast bar in the lobby before stuffing everything into his rented car and driving over to the Fenton's house to set up the party.

The grey haired man was surprised to see that no one was awake by the time he'd gotten there. Jasmine had obviously woken up at some time and moved herself to her bed while he was gone. Vlad shrugged and decided that everyone needed their sleep. He got to work decorating the main room and kitchen for Maddie's birthday. The sky outside clouded over and threatened to rain that afternoon. He was glad that he hadn't decided to make the party an out door party.

After a while of working, the man heard the house creaking. The kind of creaking you get when someone is awake upstairs. He put down his work and went to see if one of the kids had finally gotten up. Jazz was holed up in her room, no doubt developing the same troublesome habit her parents had. Danny on the other hand, was no where to be seen. Vlad walked around the house to see if he could find the boy whom he assumed to be sleeping the entire time. He finally found him in the laundry room, shoving his sheets into the washing machine.

"Daniel, what are you doing?" Vlad wondered aloud.

"I wet the bed." Danny was on the edge of crying. He sniffed and huffed and tried to hold back the tears as he stuffed his sheets into the machine.

Vlad ruffled the boy's hair and kneeled down to look him in the eye. "That's nothing to be sad about. We all have accidents." Vlad rolled up his sleeves and started taking care of the sheets while Danny watched from the doorway. After the machine was running, he took the boy to the restroom and helped him clean up and change. He rinsed the one piece PJs and let them dry in the tub while they waited for a spot to open up in the washing machine. The two boys washed their hands and went downstairs to continue setting up for Maddie's birthday party.

"What can I do, Vlad?" Danny bounced as he saw the banner and pretty gifts all wrapped up. He was running around the two rooms as he waited eagerly on how he could help.

"I have a few cards I'd like you to sign and draw pictures on." Masters placed Danny at the table with some crayons and two cards. He left one out and kept it to the side, so as not to get mixed in with the rest of the party stuff.

After an hour of drawing, setting up, and cooking, the party was almost ready to start. The two men snuck upstairs and lightly knocked on Jasmine's door. When she didn't reply, they opened it slightly and walked up to her bed. Vlad plucked Danny up off the floor and held the boy in one arm as he gently shook the girl awake. When her eyes batted open and she looked at them, they both bid her a good morning with large smiles.

"Get ready Jazz, get ready!" Danny shouted. He wiggled excitedly in Vlad's arm. "We're throwing mama a birthday party!"

"If you wouldn't mind changing and meeting us downstairs in ten minutes, I'd much appreciate it. I'll wait for you down there, unless of course you want me to help you." Vlad offered.

Jazz, who was as independent as ever, bluntly refused and shooed the two men from her room.

A well groomed girl met the two boys in the kitchen as they finished fixing up the table full of fresh cooked eggs, bacon, pancakes, sausages, and toast. Maddie's seat had two cards sitting in front of her plate.

The three sneaky well wishers tip toed down the metal stairs into the cold lab the Fenton parents spent most of their days. The two adults were, as expected, awake and rushing around the lab busily trying to work on some big invention that seemed to be only half finished. The children rushed to the center of the big room and shouted out, "Happy birthday!" as loudly as they could.

Maddie turned away from her command station and gawked at the three visitors in the lab. She smiled tiredly and hugged her children in appreciation. Jack, however, took a bit longer to react since he was trying to tinker with the delicate inner workings of an ecto gun.

"Happy birthday Madeline. Twenty nine and still as stunning as the day I met you." Vlad took the woman's blue clad hand and led her upstairs, the kids excitedly pushing their dad to follow.

"Thanks guys, but I really need to work on that project. The government has been breathing down our necks for a few months now to get a working prototype finished."

"Shush now dear. Everyone needs a day to themselves every once in a while. The government can wait." Vlad gently scolded as he ushered the lovely lady to her seat. "Now eat before you waste away to nothing."

Maddie couldn't refuse the hot food taunting her from the table and decided to take Vlad up on his offer of fresh cooked food. For the first time in years, the whole family ate together. They quickly scarfed down the delicious cuisine in front of them, loading their plates up with meat and syrup. By the end of the meal, only a small portion of it remained. Vlad took care of the dishes and put the food away for Maddie and Jack to eat later.

"Open the cards! Open the cards!" Danny prompted from his seat. He wanted his mother to pay attention to the drawings he had put on the cards. Maddie laughed as Jack tried to calm the young boy down.

"Yes, go on Maddie. It's time to get showered in presents and birthday goodies." Vlad leaned against the counter as he made coffee for himself and the Fenton parents.

"You've spoiled me enough as is." Maddie blushed. Her hands drifted up to the cards. She opened them one at a time and tried her best to read them, even though Danny had colored all over the cards and made it hard to see some of the words. The first card was well wishes from Jack, Jazz, and Danny. The second one, was from Vlad and Danny. "You're really good at drawing these, uh, dragons Danny."

"They're not dragons!" Danny huffed from his spot at the table.

Vlad looked at the cards as he placed the cups of hot coffee in front of Maddie. "I believe that's a green space ship and that is a horse." The man corrected. Danny nodded his head victoriously, glad that there was someone who could tell what he had drawn.

"Oh? Oh! I see it now. I'm sorry." Maddie said as she kept trying to actually see the resemblance of what he drew and what it was supposed to be. She finally gave up and started to unwrap the plethora of presents sitting before her. Shiny purple and blue paper was torn and drifted to the floor as her curiosity lead her to quickly open the gifts.

Besides Danny's presents, there was a large at home spa kit, manicure and pedicure supplies, and even a new vase to put the beautiful flower Danny had picked out the night before.

"Thank you guys so much!" She exclaimed as she gave her kids kisses on their cheeks and Vlad a friendly hug. Before she could get to her husband, he spoke up. "I'm sorry Maddie. I couldn't get you anything." He frowned, mentally beating himself up for having forgotten his wife's birthday.

Vlad looked towards the card he had on the counter. He quickly glanced between Jack and the card before letting out an inaudible sigh and frowning to himself as he grabbed the card. "What he means is, he couldn't get you anything personally. He told me the other night to make sure to get you this." Vlad handed the birthday girl another card enclosed in a light blue envelope.

She quickly peeled it open and read the beautiful card and handwritten poem. She reread it two more times before finally putting it down. She wrapped her hands around Jack and showered him in kisses. "Jack Fenton, that is the sweetest thing you could have ever gotten me!"

Vlad smiled to himself sadly as he watched Jack get all the praise. Some times playing the good guy hurt.

After the short party, the Fenton parents went back downstairs to work and Vlad was left to finish cleaning up. Jazz announced that she and her friend were going to have a slumber party. With that, the little girl was packed and gone. Danny was on the couch in the living room napping after an exciting afternoon.

Vlad sat back in one of the free chairs in the living room. The house seemed so quiet. It still felt like it wasn't quite lived in. There was something missing still. It was clean, the smell of food hung in the air, and everything was in it's place, but it still felt off kilter.

After a long time of wondering what was missing, the older man left his seat. He walked over to the sleeping boy and stared at him while he snoozed lazily. He had thrown the blanket that covered him to the floor and the pillow was missing. Vlad smiled at the sight. All the chaos, and the boy was still sleeping soundly. He kneeled down by the child and ruffled his hair slightly. The tiny hand grasped the man's finger as it trailed down the boy's chubby face. The older man didn't have a strong enough will to wrench his finger away from the child.

All the grey haired man could think of, was the fact that he was to leave for Wyoming in a day. He had only come down to visit Jack and Maddie and celebrate the day with them. It tore at his heart knowing that he'd come to know their family and was expected to just leave them alone after bonding with them.

Vlad sat on the floor for a long while, thinking about everything that had occurred in the last few days and what he was doing with his life.


	4. Chapter 4

GROWING UP Chapter 4

The day had ticked away in a slow march of minutes. The Fenton house was left quiet since the parents were working in the lab, Jazz had left for her friend's house, and Danny was napping on the couch.

The muscular man who'd shown up just two days before disappeared just as he arrived: unexpectedly.

Outside the storm clouds were gathering and a large thunderstorm threatened the small town. Danny stirred from his nap. The little boy looked around for the large man who he'd gotten accustom to seeing. The only proof that the man had ever been there was the food in the fridge and the freshly washed sheets that were put back on his bed. Danny raced around the house hoping that he just over looked where the man was. His search turned up fruitless.

After sitting around the house for a long time worrying, the boy decided that the man had just gone to his hotel room for the night and that he would be back tomorrow to spend more time talking and playing. In a feeble attempt to ward off boredom, the child tried to count to fifty again.

One, two, three, four. The house stood mute as if the dead dared not make noise.

Five, six, seven eight, nine. The world morphed into a cold electric night.

Ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen. The ticking of the clock grew louder with each passing second, grating on the boy's ear drums.

Fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, nineteen. Water started to fall from the sky. It was not a gentle summer rain, but a harsh storm. The noise the drops made pounded on the large empty house.

Twenty, twenty one, twenty two, twenty- what was that! A loud boom came from outside and shook the house. Danny hid himself in the couch pillows, waiting for the worse.

Twenty three, twenty four, twenty five. The crashing sound came again. It was as if a giant had decided to rush through the small town of Amity.

Twenty six, Twenty seven. Another loud noise accompanied this frightening one. It was as if an army threatened to break down the door. Raping came from the walls and ceiling. The whole house came alive shrieking in pain and horror.

Twenty eight. The lights flicked off. The house was plunged into darkness. The air felt thin and the atmosphere was filled with unknown things that wished to claw at the lonely little boy.

Twenty nine. The knocking sounds got louder. The small boy was frozen in place, too scared to move. Never before could he remember being caught in a storm this bad. On second thought, he couldn't remember any storms short of the friendly warm summer ones from last year.

Thirty. The door flung open and the harsh winds from outside trampled the house and angrily flung objects around. Paper blew about as if it were a giant snow globe. The cold gripped at the boy like corpse hands clawing at the living.


	5. Chapter 5

GROWING UP Chapter 5

Masters quickly slammed the stubborn door closed. The storm picked up quicker than he thought it would and he got caught up in it as he ran his errands. The man had chosen to return to the Fenton house since it was closer than the hotel and he didn't feel like risking the drive in such a horrible storm.

He started to pick up the papers that had blown away in the wind when he came in. His attention was quickly grabbed by a small shivering mass on the couch. The man walked closer to examine it in the dark, only to see a very scared Danny trying to hide from the raging storm.

The lean man tried to turn on the light, but found that the power was out, so instead, he laid a gentle hand on the boy's back. The small mass flinched in fear. Danny hesitantly turned his head to look at the tall man looming over him. "Is that you Mr. Vlad?" his tiny voice asked.

The man just grabbed the boy and held on to him. He rocked the boy as the small black haired child shook in his arms. Vlad stroked the boy's hair to help him calm down. "You're okay now. You're fine." He started to walk around the house. He checked the kitchen and living room for a scared red headed mass to match Danny. "Is your sister here?"

"No, she's with a friend." Vlad chewed on his lip then looked over at the note the girl had left on the table for her parents. It had all the information of where she was. He gave the number a quick ring, glad to hear the phone lines still worked. He talked to the other girl's parents and made sure Jazz was safe. "Your sister is fine." He told the now calm boy who he continued to hold to his chest. The tall man wanted to make sure he could feel the boy's steady heart beat just to know he was still there in the dark house.

The two boys walked down to the lab. Maddie and Jack were far from the turmoil of the natural world. A back up generator had kicked in for the lab, so they had plenty of light and power. They had just finished putting out a fire from a failed invention as the two men made their way down the stairs. Danny's mom rushed over to the two of them when she saw how the boy was clinging to Vlad. "What's wrong?"

"It's scary up there!" Danny wined. Maddie took the little boy out of Master's hands. She slowly walked around the lab, rocking the boy into comfort. Jack walked up to Vlad muttering something about how it was their fifteenth try that week.

"Vladdie! What brought you down here?" The orange suited man gave the lean built, grey haired man a smack on the back.

"There's a horrible storm outside and we wanted to make sure you two were alright."

"A storm? We didn't even notice. Thanks for taking care of Danny though."

Maddie was now sitting in a chair that obviously doubled as her bed. Danny was being rocked still, however it seemed the both he and Maddie were quickly falling asleep.

"Jack, mind if I talk to you, upstairs?" The two men made their way into the kitchen where Vlad started to make a quick meal for the family. Thankfully they had a gas stove.

"What's on your mind, Vladdie?" Jack asked in a booming voice. He started to get plates down and food for Vlad.

"I've noticed a few things on my visit. Things that really need pointing out." Vlad quietly washed the produce for a minute before going on, hoping Jack wouldn't take any offense to what he was saying. "Jack, I think that-"

Maddie walking into the kitchen and shoved Danny in Jack's arms. "Jack, be a dear and play with him upstairs for a bit." Her hair hid her eyes and she seemed to be looking at the floor a lot. The orange clad man didn't seem to notice this and just did as he was told. The two boys waddled off upstairs.

"What's the matter, dear?" Vlad asked, noticing right away that the woman was crying.

"Vlad, I can't do this. I just can't let things be like this." She sat down at the table and Vlad handed her a tissue.

"What can't you do?"

"This!" she said as she gestured wildly to the house. "This isn't a family, it's horror. Danny was telling me about how much you've done for him, and I realized that Jack and I haven't' done anything like that for the kids in years. It's just so hard to be there for him like you are when we're constantly trying to make ends meet." Her body shook from her sobs.

"You're doing the best you can, and I'm sure he understands that." Vlad wiped a tear off her face and tried to get her to smile.

"I have no right to ask this, but can you stay, please? Just until we get things together. We can give you the room upstairs since Jack and I don't seem to use it anymore. Just, please Vlad. The kids need someone who will actually listen and be there for them. I promise this will only be until we get on better standing financially."

The tall man was taken aback by the suggestion. "I-yes. I was actually- just yes." The man tripped over his words trying to respond. "I can take the living room or something for now. I was thinking about moving to Amity soon anyway."

"Thank you so much Vlad. I swear we'll get this family thing down quick. We just need to impress our employer with the next invention and we should be better off.

"There's no rush." Vlad whispered to himself as he turned back to the food cooking on the stove. "Mind if I tell the kids though?"


	6. Chapter 6

GROWING UP Chapter 6

The kids were excited to hear that their uncle Vlad was going to move in for a while. Danny absolutely demanded that the man share his room for a while. The grey haired man laughed and finally agreed to the arrangements. He knew the living room would be in everyone's way.

For the next two days, Vlad and Jack drove between his old house and the Fenton's. Vlad had to resign and tell his landlord that he was moving out of the house he had been renting for years at this point. All the loose ends were quickly tied up nicely as the last of his stuff was put into a storage unit he rented.

An extra bed was put into Danny's room for Vlad and Jack quickly returned to helping Maddie in the lab. Masters ordered out for pizza that night to feed the kids. They decided that it was a lot like a sleep over, and that it should be a wonderful one. They stayed up late watching movies in the living room, building pillow forts, and passing out on the floor loosely wrapped in blankets. The uneaten pizza was left out as the three of them slept in a messy left overs of a great night.


End file.
